Gulf Today

Parts of Emirates experience rain

- MOHAMMED ALAA

ABU DHABI: Heavy to moderate rain fell in different parts of the UAE on Saturday as the southeaste­rly winds continued to blow before turning to north-westerly winds and forming cumulative clouds at 36kph.

The dust-stirring winds caused the horizontal visibility to be less than 2,000m on some open areas.

Heavy rains fell on Wadi Al Ejeili in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah-kalba Road while moderate rains fell on Muzeera in Ajman and Masafi in Ras Al Khaimah. Light rains fell on Shawka-al Munayi Road in Ras Al Khaimah and Saa in Al Ain City.

The western regions witnessed mild to moderate fog, which caused the horizontal visibility to be less than 1,000m.

The fog gradually spread and became thick in the morning, lasting for more than 6 hours in a number of internal and external areas and roads.

Madinat Zayed in Al Dhafra and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road (Abu Dhabi — Al Ghwaifat) experience­d an intermitte­nt fog before spreading to various areas in Al Dhafra and gradually fading by 8am.

According to the National Centre of Meteorolog­y, fog, particular­ly mild fog, is expected to prevail in the northern areas on Sunday, causing the horizontal visibility to be low.

The weather is expected to be clear in general on Monday with some clouds being formed sometimes in the eastern parts. Winds will be light to moderate in general at 36kph, turning to strong and dust-stirring sometimes on open areas during the day.

Relative humidity will increase at night and early morning on some coastal and inland areas and the fog, particular­ly mild fog, might be formed, especially in the eastern areas.

SHARJAH: Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority has launched the ‘Age-friendly Public Transport’ initiative, which exempts the elderly, children and people of determinat­ion from public transport fees, and has also issued a new tariff for taxis used for transporti­ng people of determinat­ion.

The initiative, issued in line with the Year of Zayed, culminates the Authority’s efforts to support Sharjah’s programme as irst Arab age-friendly city in implementa­tion of the vision of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, towards making the emirate an ideal age-friendly environmen­t in which its inhabitant­s are provided with the best services.

The Authority is in the process of establishi­ng a mechanism for issuing permits for the said categories, which will be announced soon, said Yusuf Sulaiman Al Hammadi, Head of Procuremen­t and Administra­tive Services.

In order to beneit from the exemption, the elderly and children can present their identity cards when booking tickets, while people of determinat­ion can present their own people of determinat­ion cards, he added.

To continue to support people of determinat­ion and provide them with services easily and smoothly, the Authority introduced from last May a new tariff for the taxis used in transporti­ng people of determinat­ion, he said.

To this effect, the Authority cancelled the Dhs15 counter opening tariff and the Dhs1.5 extra fees added to the counter in every trip and gave a 50 per cent discount on the total fares of the trip, he added.

As a result, some 1,608 booking requests for people of determinat­ion taxis were received between May when the decision took effect and August at a rate of 402 requests monthly, up by 16 per cent over the four months that preceded the decision, he said.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Bahrain